Girl helping in fight against cancer

hen the annual St. Augustine Relay for Life steps off May 9 in St. Augustine, 6-year-old Morgan Prosuch plans to be there.

This will be the next step in a two-part goal she had this year for her March 13 birthday.

First, she had her hair cut to donate to Locks for Love. And second, instead of receiving presents for her birthday party, she asked friends to bring money to donate to the American Cancer Society.

The result was $176 turned over to this year's Relay for Life fund.

The relay, planned on the track of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, is an 18-hour event which begins at 6 p.m. May 9 and concludes the following day.

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In this before photo, Morgan's hair was down to her waist.

Contributed Photo

Teams of 10 to 15 people camp out and take turns walking around the track in half hour or hour intervals.

Although Morgan didn't spend the night last year, she still remembers all about the event.

"It's for people who have cancer," she explains. Then, referring to the luminarias which are lighted in honor and memory of cancer victims, Morgan explains: "You fill up things with sand, put a candle in and you walk around the court.

"I'm going to camp out this year," she adds. "My daddy has a tent."

Morgan, the daughter of Angie and Rick Prosuch, who also have a one-year-old daughter, decided to get a hair cut after her mother read her an article about a little girl who had done the same thing. "I told my mommie I wanted to do that."

Besides, Morgan said, "my head's always hot in the summer."

After the decision, Morgan says she made a discovery about cutting her hair. "It doesn't hurt...I like my hair cut."

Morgan's hair was "down to here," she says, pointing to her hips. They cut off 11 inches. "When I got my hair cut, they had to put it in this ponytail," she added, showing off the hair just before her mother sent it off to Locks of Love.

Hair stylist Sabrina Hiers at Debbie's Day Spa did the snipping.

"I do them quite often, actually," she explained. "We probably do it a couple of times a month. We do get quite a few children, but mostly older than she (Morgan) is." Hiers says she gets lots of older teens. They like to donate to Locks of Love because "it's for a good cause."

One of the reasons Morgan had her hair cut, she says, is because she knows people who have cancer. "My grandpa had it last time. He's in heaven. My grandma's dog had it too."

And a friend of Morgan's, who is the same age, had leukemia. She's currently in remission.

Locks of Love is described on its Web site as "a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children across the U.S. under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss. "